What would be your desert island marketing tool?

Let’s say that you are suddenly stripped of all your marketing tools and programs and you must choose just one. If you could only have one marketing tool, what would you choose?

I’d choose my business cards. Sure, a website can generate leads and support your marketing tactics. And brochures are great once someone has contacted you. A tradeshow can generate leads, but you still need to hand out business cards. Networking’s great, but, again, you need business cards to do it.

If you’re going to run a consulting business, you need business cards. Get professional, credible cards that sell your image, expertise and skills. Don’t create your own business cards. For about $100, you can have 500 fantastic cards. That’s about 20 cents per card. You’ll probably make the money back with your first sale.

Again, if you’re going to have any marketing tools, get business cards. Trust me. Otherwise, you’re only going to get work from people you know well — and that’s a pretty small market. Open yourself to the world.

Just a tip for your readers. I use a company called Vistaprint and they are on the web at [you guessed it] http://www.vistaprint.com. They are VERY low cost and allow me to upload my logo to add to the business card. I would advise against low quality cards that many places offer for free. They have a very unprofessional look and feel. I think I paid about $20 for 500, 100-lb matte cards customized with my logo.